Mona Hatoum’s Impenetrable, from her show “Interior Landscapes.” Courtesy Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venezia.

Mona Hatoum’s solo show “Interior Landscapes” runs from June 4 to September 30 at the Palazzo Querini Stampalia.  Curated by Chiara Bertola, the exhibition shows 29 works, most of them new, by the artist.  The show is part of an ongoing series of projects entitled “Conservare il futuro (Preserving the Future)” that explores the relationship between historic and contemporary art.

Related links:
Fondazione Scientifica Querini Stampalia
Mona Hatoum [White Cube]
Mona Hatoum [Alexander and Bonin]

Where the works on the upper floor at Palazzo Querini Stampalia are displayed in a typical white cube, Hatoum interweaves several pieces with the historical rooms of the Palazzo, including Hair Necklace and the chair installation Conversation Piece. Another of her works, the light installation Misbah, has been shown recently at the artist’s solo show in New York, at Alexander and Bonin.

Mona Hatoum’s Natura Morta, from “Interior Landscapes.” Courtesy Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venezia.

Born in 1952, Mona Hatoum stayed in London when civil war broke out in her native Lebanon.  Hatoum trained at the Bryam Shaw School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art.  She was nominated for the Turner Prize, and has shown at the Biennale of Sydney and twice at the Venice Biennale.  Hatoum has had solo shows at museums in Chicago, New York, London, Stockholm and more, including Paris’s Centre Georges Pompidou, London’s the White Cube, and the Tate Britain.

Mona Hatoum’s A Bigger Splash, from “Interior Landscapes.” Courtesy Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venezia.

Mona Hatoum, Witness, from “Interior Landscapes.” Courtesy Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venezia.

Hatoum has worked in performance, video, photography, installation and more.  Originally a performance artist, focusing on body and movements, Hatoum began, in the 1990’s, to move toward installation art.  Her work often comments on confines and space, given her own exile from her home country as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Above, Mona Hatoum’s Hot Spot and two views of Hot Spot with Worry Beads. From “Interior Landscapes.” Photos by Art Observed.

– Stephanie Weber and Rivka Fogel

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